It's Not A Goodbye
by Dr. Indecisive
Summary: It's just how I imagined Gideon would say he wouldn't be leaving for good.  It's not all that great but it's my first; so slack would be appreciated. :D  It came to me... in the middle of a snack.   Gideon is not actually in the story, he left a msg.


"It's Not a Goodbye"

Reid didn't know what to expect when he walked through the doors of the diner. The whole trip there, he had been replaying the message Gideon had left for him in his head, over and over. He was hoping that maybe, just maybe, there was a hidden message hinting that Gideon wasn't leaving the team for good. But the message was plain and simple:

_Meet me at the diner. _

_Gideon_

The words lingered about his head among other things, but nothing tied together.  
>His eyes wandered about the room in search of that familiar face. Disappointedly, it seemed as though he had forgotten to come. Frowning slightly, Reid sat down at the bar. He fiddled with the note between his fingers and thought for a moment. <em>Meet me at the diner… diner…diner… Am I too late? It never said when… JJ told me it was left for me today. I couldn't be late…'Meet me at the diner'…What if it-<em>

A perky hostess interrupted his thoughts, "Can I get you anything, sir?" Slight southern accent, probably moved from a small town, overdone makeup, hair must've taken awhile…pad in hand, ready to go, morning jitters…too much coffee. He concluded this all in one glance, but it was her abnormal perkiness that was slightly annoying him.  
>"No thank you," He sighed.<p>

"Are you sure?" She asked disappointedly.

"I'm positive… I'm just waiting for someone."

"Waiting for someone? Hmmm… waitin'… someone…Oh!"

"What?"

She pulled out a letter from her back-pocket, "Are you Dr. Ree-ide?"

"It's 'Reid'. Pronounced like 'reed', a woodwind instrument or the plant that grows of the order Poales. The "i" acts as an "e" which makes the "ee" sound, rather than "-ide" which is not even how it is spelled: thus making it Reid."

Leaving her purposely baffled and slightly insulted, he smiled in satisfaction: his intellect always made him feel better. Confused at what just had taken place, she went on with what she had to say, "Well uh, Reid, a man by the name of Giddy-eon, left this for you," she handed him the freshly prepared envelope.

"It's Gideon… and did he happen to say where he was going?"

"No…all he said was 'Give this to Dr. Reid. He will be the only one asking for me.' That was about it, and then he left...left me a nice tip too! I was afraid you might not make it! But I was also expectin' someone a bit older… no offense."

He sighed at the lack of response the hostess had to give him. _So he was here… I was too late after all._

A stranger, who happened to be listening in on their conversation, noted his disappointment, "Don't be discouraged kiddo, at least he left yah somethin'."

"I suppose so…Thank you m'am." He put the envelope in his satchel and walked hastily out of the diner.

The anxiety he had on the bus home was inevitable. Reid could only imagine what the contents of the envelope could hold. He gripped it tightly in his fingertips, in fear that he may lose it. Thoughts, words, and images, scrambled about his mind. _I must wait until I get home... I can't lose it out here._

Five minutes, ten minutes, fifteen minutes went by before he couldn't take it anymore. Carefully, he undid the flap of the envelope and a letter with a small object appeared to lie inside: A chess piece; a King to be exact.  
>A small tear fell from his eye as he laughed quietly to himself, <em>I never could beat him in chess. I never thought outside of the box… <em>

He pulled out the letter of the envelope last, and unfolded it carefully, in fear of its contents.

He read quietly to himself,

_Reid,_

_You were like a son to me; an incredibly intelligent profiler and my friend. With your read-into-everything-intellect, I bet you were expecting something deeper from me or more answers that I had left unexplained. I apologize if that's what you were expecting but that's not what I wanted to tell you. I wanted to tell you that, even though I have left the team, I will not allow you to leave because of me. You have worked so hard and have been through many trials and tribulations to get to where you are. I have been around for a long time and it's time I've taken a break from murder, profiling, crime-solving… the whole package. The pain of everything is just harder to bare now, at this age. I feel as though I have lost too many things to continue. But you, you my friend, still have many years before you may even begin to call it quits. I know you Reid…You are strong. _

_If you could do anything for me, it would be to stay on the team as long as you can. They need you as much as you need me. _

_Don't take this is a goodbye or a farewell. Take this as, _

_I'll see you soon._

Reid walked into the office in the late hours of the evening, surprisingly, JJ was there reading up on a profile of a killer.  
>"JJ… I didn't expect to see you here."<p>

"Nor did I. How did the meeting with Gideon go? What did he say? Is he coming back?" She asked hopefully.

"No." He frowned slightly, "He's not coming back. Not anytime soon anyways… He wasn't even there. He just left me a letter."

"Oh. I'm sor—"

"Don't be. I think it was actually better this way."

"How?"

"I don't know… It just was."

Doing what he originally came to do, Reid went over to his desk and placed Gideon's King chess piece by the picture of the team standing together. As he walked away, he took a good look at it and smiled in bitter-sweet satisfaction.

_I'll see you soon._


End file.
